26 CUBAN REFUGEES ARRESTED IN KEYS

U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested 26 Cuban refugees Thursday morning, shortly after midnight, soon after they reached land on Islamorada in the Florida Keys.

The group of 13 men, nine women, three girls and one boy told authorities they left Villa Clara, Cuba, on Tuesday night. The refugees said they paid a smuggler up to several hundred dollars each to ferry them across the Florida Straits in a 35-foot fishing boat.

The Cubans were later taken to the Krome Detention Center, where they will likely be released after processing.

Also on Thursday, in a separate incident, the U.S. Coast Guard repatriated seven Cubans to Bahia de Cabanas, Cuba. On Monday the Coast Guard had intercepted the group, traveling aboard a raft, four miles south of Marathon Key.